Why I "love" eBay

[Mud]

If you have read my posts previously you might know that I work PT for a LBS and defend us against MO. But sometimes I want to try something cheap before biting the bullet for what I might really want.

I have been riding an SLK 50/34 crank. I got tired of being past by kids on trikes so we decided to push the 50 for more speed. While it works and we get a lot more speed it also involves crosschaining, slower cadence and tired knees. So I decided to get a 53/39.

I found an SLK with BB at a very reasonable price and the person have very good but not perfect feedback but no issues in the last year. The parts arrived today. The crank was fine, the BB was trashed.

This set-up was supoosed to have 700 miles on it. The crank is fine. The BB has one frozen bearing and one that hardly turns. I have one in the parts collection that has about 8000 miles on it so I dug it out-buttah.

Obviously this BB has many more miles on it or was installed incorrectly. Now I don't need it. I have a ceramic bracket on the bike so all I really care about is the crank. I am not PO'ed but probably should be. I wrote a note and am waiting for a response.

[DHallerman]

Also on eBay, I find it amazing how some people want you to spend hundreds of dollars on their bike or frame, and then give you inadequate information.

Here's one example, that came to me today, when I queried the seller about a Schwinn Paramount frameset that caught my eye. Here is his response:

56cm is measured from center of BB to top of TT along the seattube. Standover is 810mm (to my eye). Also, toptube length looks to be 54cm. I hope this helps.

Okay, the first sentence gives clear info. The standover info, "to my eye," makes me want to ask him not to use his eye but a measuring tape. And the top tube info, "looks to be," makes me think he may not own a measuring tape.

But, to be fair, perhaps the seller doesn't know how to measure a bike. Still, it sounds more sloppy and inadequate than incapable.

And he wants hundreds of dollars for that?!?

Dave, who knows that any P2P bike deal done online whether through eBay or this message board or the iBob list or anyplace thrives on a combination of honesty, accuracy, and thorough information